Many untested drug therapies are expensive at best and potentially dangerous at worst. So what treatments do work for ice and other drug users?
Articles on Illicit drugs
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Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, is a medicine that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid drugs such as heroin, morphine and oxycodone.
This week the AFL announced revisions to its illicit drug policy. With strident critics calling for “zero tolerance” and even criminal sanctions for transgressions, it is an opportunity to reflect on why…
The challenge is to intervene before users hit crisis point. A Hawaii-based program does just this and has achieved substantial reductions in drug use. A similar scheme could work in Australia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said ice is far more potent, far more dangerous, and far more addictive than any other illegal drug. Is that supported by the data?
Are addicts sick and helpless victims with little control over their own behaviour, or brazen criminals who deserve to be punished accordingly?
There is no evidence to suggest mandatory treatment outside of the criminal justice system would work. Instead, we need to increase funding for treatment programs, including early intervention.
In March 2015, Karmichael Hunt pleaded guilty to four counts of cocaine possession. This coincided with the end of his career at the Gold Coast Suns AFL club. At the close of the court case, a colleague…
The government’s “blanket ban” on legal highs goes against the evidence.
Successive governments haven’t always followed expert advice, but they have in the new bill to end ‘legal highs’.
International evidence suggests “awareness” campaigns are not the best way to address harmful methamphetamine use. Fear-based approaches can increase stigma and drive people from treatment.
There may be career-ending sanctions for sportspeople who have inadvertently tested positive to a performance-enhancing drug after having consumed an illicit drug.
There is no doubt methamphetamine can cause harm. But when politicians hijack drug issues and overplay them for political purposes, that too can cause harm.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott today launched a taskforce to tackle the growing problem of ice. But while Australia certainly has a problem with ice, it’s hardly an epidemic.
How does the ACC report help inform the debate around methylamphetamine, and what practical lessons can Australian society and law enforcement draw from it?
The World Anti-Doping Authority looks on from the sidelines in case there is an opportunity to punish athletes’ involvement with illicit drugs out of competition.
You would be forgiven for thinking that Russell Brand, that radical left-winger and advocate of revolution, and Iain Duncan Smith, Conservative secretary of state for work and pensions, didn’t have anything…
It will come as no surprise to anyone that drugs are big business, so when a drone crashed in a car park of a US border town weighed down with several kilos of narcotics, it was just another example of…
Drug use is common, drug addiction is rare. About one adult in three will use an illegal drug in their lifetime and just under 3m people will do so this year in England and Wales alone. Most will suffer…
Last year almost 80,000 people took part in the Global Drug Survey and helped us produce the world’s first harm-reduction guide. These experts are people who like taking drugs but want to keep themselves…
Top contributors
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Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne based), Curtin University
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Honorary Fellow, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
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Lecturer, RMIT University
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Associate Professor, National Drug Research Institute / enAble Institute, Curtin University
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Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer of Addiction, Edith Cowan University
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Professor, Deakin University
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Professor of Neuropharmacology, University of Lancashire
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Associate Professor in Criminology, Deakin University
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Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Bond University
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Emeritus Consultant, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst
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Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores University
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Hon. Professor Drug Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
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Senior lecturer, Australian National University
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Professor, Mental Health and Addiction, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University